Maine man punched, robbed after meeting up with Grindr match in Cambridge

Amy Saltzman asaltzman@wickedlocal.com @cambridgechron

Tuesday

Jul 3, 2018 at 12:35 PM

A 37-year-old Maine man was reportedly punched and robbed of his backpack containing a firearm June 26 in Riverside after trying to meet up with a man from an online hook-up app.

The victim told police he was meeting up with a man he matched with on the Grindr app to “hook up.” The two agreed to meet in the area of Western Avenue and Howard Street, but when the victim arrived, he noticed the man—later identified as Tristen Phillips, of 293 Market St. in Brighton – was with a woman. The woman was described as a black, possibly trans-female, in her 20s, approximately 6-feet tall with bad acne/pockmarks on her face and wearing a blouse, jeans and heels.

The victim said he felt the woman was attempting to join the hook up, which he wasn’t comfortable with. So he told the two he had changed his mind and began to walk back to his truck. At this point, the two suspects allegedly ran up behind him and began to punch him repeatedly in the head.

During the struggle, one of the suspects attempted to get the victim’s backpack off his back. When he refused to give up the bag, Phillips yelled to the woman to “take out the gun.” When the woman started to grab at her waistband, the victim gave up his backpack and ran to his truck. He never saw a gun, but felt she did have one concealed.

Once in his truck, he called police. Investigators were able to obtain a screenshot of Phillips’ profile from Grindr and are investigating.

Multiple items were reportedly inside the stolen backpack, including a Beretta Pico .380 caliber handgun valued at $400, an iPad valued at $400 and a MacBook Pro valued at $1,200.

Phillips was located at his residence and arrested June 28 on a warrant out Cambridge District Court for armed robbery.

The backpack was recovered on Western Avenue, according to police, but the stolen firearm has not been located.

"One of our K9s detected an odor indicating a firearm or ammunition previously was stored in the backpack. However, the firearm was not recovered at the location where the backpack was recovered [on Western Avenue] nor was it located after officers executed a search warrant at the home of the arrested suspect," said Jeremy Warnick, communications director for CPD, in a followup email on Tuesday morning, July 3.